Wonders... What the heck I'm building?

[player1 fanatic]

One thing that really bother me, regarding wonders in this game, is that in many cases, I have no idea what so ever what exactly some of the wonders represent.

Civililopedia is not great in helping, since there is no quick summary to explain what each wonder represent, in plain text, just some cryptic quote in most cases and "wall of text" as historic entry that needs to be read in full to understand what the heck wonder represents.

This is one of the small things that make flavor in this game feel poor.

 

[marioflag]

I have the opposte opinion. I find that civilopedia descriptions of wonders are very interesting and give a great insight about the lore in the game. All the entries require no more than a few minutes in the worst case

 

[player1 fanatic]

I have the opposte opinion. I find that civilopedia descriptions of wonders are very interesting and give a great insight about the lore in the game. All the entries require no more than a few minutes in the worst case

Yes, they are interesting, but they are also mandatory, to make any sense of the wonder. And sometimes even that is not enough.

I still do not understand what is Deadalus Ladder.

Or why is Ansamble (communication device?) a wonder?

There are many more examples.


EDIT:
Resurrection Device, for example, is good as is. Because both flavor text is good, and name actually explains what the thing is.

 

[EsnesNommoc]

Yes, they are interesting, but they are also mandatory, to make any sense of the wonder. And sometimes even that is not enough.

I still do not understand what is Deadalus Ladder.

Or why is Ansamble (communication device?) a wonder?

There are many more examples.


EDIT:
Resurrection Device, for example, is good as is. Because both flavor text is good, and name actually explains what the thing is.

Well, this is the future. I would find it more boring if their names are all English-words and explain what they do. I mean, in the past games, Machu Picchu? Chichen Itza? Those names are only familiar because they are actual historical wonders, but Beyond Earth sets in the future.

 

[Noatz]

Conceptually they are pretty cool, but the fanciful names and poetic quotes don't communicate much about them.

I think it would be alright if there was a brief description alongside it, or on the tooltip. Something like:

"Cynosure:
An extremely advanced AI whose computations affect reality itself. Increases Science and allows an extra level of veterency in your military units."

 

[player1 fanatic]

^exactly

 

[s0nny80y]

The blueprint images don't help.

Identifying them on the hex tiles is kinda gratifying though. Like that Panopticon wonder that looks like a watchtower control.

 

[AriochIV]

I do agree that if you have to dig into the Civilopedia to figure out what something is, they've failed at some level of exposition.

 

[JokerJace]

Naturally the wonders of the future a little bit abstract to us. I think it's okay they didn't try to oversimplify the descriptions. It wouldn't go well with the general tone of the game. The same is true for many of the profane buildings. Making everything instantly relatable to things in our time would only be possible if they painted a very uninspired picture of the future. They would do many ideas a disservice if they tried to describe them in 5 words. Besides, I prefer sophisticated science fiction universes over the easy accessible ones anyway. I also have to say that the style of writing isn't as pretentious as many people claim. While obviously being fictive, it has similarities to how scientific papers are written today. For Example. I think the lore of the game is one of the things they did a very good job with.

 

[Noatz]

Naturally the wonders of the future a little bit abstract to us. I think it's okay they didn't try to oversimplify the descriptions. It wouldn't go well with the general tone of the game. The same is true for many of the profane buildings. Making everything instantly relatable to things in our time would only be possible if they painted a very uninspired picture of the future. They would do many ideas a disservice if they tried to describe them in 5 words. Besides, I prefer sophisticated science fiction universes over the easy accessible ones anyway. I also have to say that the style of writing isn't as pretentious as many people claim. While obviously being fictive, it has similarities to how scientific papers are written today. For Example. I think the lore of the game is one of the things they did a very good job with.

On a base level it's fairly well conceived, but it isn't always well communicated, the wonders being a good example. The same goes for the faction leaders - they are all distinct characters, but this isn't on show when you actually interact with them in game, it's just the same stock phrases over and over.

 

[JokerJace]

On a base level it's fairly well conceived, but it isn't always well communicated, the wonders being a good example. The same goes for the faction leaders - they are all distinct characters, but this isn't on show when you actually interact with them in game, it's just the same stock phrases over and over.

Yes, but I would argue this is because they didn't enhance the whole concept of dull diplomacy from CiV. So it's still dull.

 

[Alkaid]

I think it'd be better if the pictures of them were full detail, like Civ V's wonders. Sure you may still not know what exactly it's supposed to be/do at a glance, but at least you'd get a visual sense of the thing. The wireframe images just makes them feel kind of empty, and lacking in substance.

 

[GenyaArikado]

I still dont get what the biogeist is.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I still dont get what the biogeist is.

The Bytegeist ? I think it is a self-aware social network, but I'm not sure. There definitely should be a one sentence description for every wonder in gve tooltip.

 

[player1 fanatic]

And Deadalus Ladder?

 

[The Sentinel]

And Deadalus Ladder?

not sure but the description kinda sounds like either a machine that preforms genetic alteration of some kind or a implant...

 

[JokerJace]

Daedalus Ladder is just a device to augment people in some profound way, making them less sensitive to external influences and more self sustaining.

Bytegeist is an distributed AI interwoven in the existing social notworks and supports the creative proceedings of your civilization in several ways.
(A combinded artificial super admin / programmer / moderator for a big part of the future equivalent of the internet)

Really not that obscure if you take 5 minutes to read the civilopedia. I actually like that you have to use your brain to make sense of some things. Wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Or why is Ansamble (communication device?) a wonder?

Ansibles are actually a fairly old sci-fi concept, so not explaining that better, I can excuse. The idea behind it is simple its a communication device that allows instantaneous communication regardless of distance or shielding.

I can certainly see why a working Ansible network is wonder-like: every city, every soldier, every satellite can be in instant contact with perfect reliability.

In general, though, it'd be really nice if all the techs, buildings and wonders had a short one-sentence explanation that is displayed more frequently and prominently.

 

[DioAurion]

For me the issue is how little the wonder output has to do with the wonder's lore.

 

[GenyaArikado]

Daedalus Ladder is just a device to augment people in some profound way, making them less sensitive to external influences and more self sustaining.

Bytegeist is an distributed AI interwoven in the existing social notworks and supports the creative proceedings of your civilization in several ways.
(A combinded artificial super admin / programmer / moderator for a big part of the future equivalent of the internet)

Really not that obscure if you take 5 minutes to read the civilopedia. I actually like that you have to use your brain to make sense of some things. Wouldn't want it any other way.

I read the entire civilopedia. But between the way the bytegeist and the ladder entries are written, the fact that the quotes come off kinda unrelated, the names and the kinda random bonuses its kinda hard to get.

Not to beat the dead horse but even the most abstract Smac secret project (the mind twister) was easier to get